Chapter 82: Conversation (3)

“Chiik….”

Huger was bored.

For an orc as active as him, staying cooped up in one place was like being locked in a tomb.

“This won’t do. If I stay still like this, I might lose all my muscle.”

“If you’re worried about that, why don’t you train?”

Jack answered with a weary tone.

But that was no solution to Huger’s restless mind.

“Training is only truly built through real combat.”

“Then shall we spar a little?”

“Chiik, only a Great Human Warrior could stand a chance against me. Jack, you’re not worthy.”

Jack’s mouth trembled at the biting insult.

He wanted to give that un-orcish orc a good smack on the head to knock some sense into him.

“I’m just going for a walk, Chiik.”

But Huger was already walking away in the distance.

Richard had ordered him several times to stay put in the Third Knight Division’s quarters, but his thin patience had finally snapped.

In a garden crowded with rows of stones, Huger took a deep breath.

The air, mixed with magic, was thick enough to suck into a pig’s snout.

Yet, to Huger at that moment, it felt incredibly clear.

One bit of magick was worth a hundred times more than hundreds of men’s strength.

After a brief shiver, he slapped his hands on the ground.

“Hor, sir. If I want to meet Mary, where should I go?”

He lifted his head to the sky, but no answer from God came.

God was always like that.

No matter how earnestly you prayed for love, you’d get no response.

“You sure are a tight-lipped one, sir.”

Spit coated his palm as Huger shifted his steps.

Believing that if he followed the wind, a flower named Mary would appear.

***

“Chiik! Comrade, it’s not a flower! I said it’s not one!”

“Hey, what’s with you!”

Before Huger, who was hoping for a flower, stood Moritz—the orc.

He had definitely followed the wind.

Huger showed a betrayed expression.

“Why the hell is the comrade here…!”

“Why don’t you go farm or something at the Middle Sword Palace?”

“Chiik, then why are wandering around instead of staying in your room?”

“I’m taking a walk! What’s it to you?”

Neither side was willing to back down.

The very one who was told to stay still and not wander was none other than Huger.

Moritz, knowing this fact, was even more stunned.

“You dumb pig of a brat.”

“Stop hating on your own kind, Chiik!”

Moritz’s mouth trembled.

To soothe his anger, Huger rubbed the back of his head.

“Now, now. Have a seat first.”

Moritz, despite being an orc, wasn’t a bad companion.

Since he’d been worried already, Huger thought this was a good chance to have a sincere talk.

‘Maybe God guided us here on purpose.’

Otherwise, how could he have just met Moritz in such a vast land?

Tap tap.

Huger patted the ground beside him, stirring up some dust.

Moritz, also needing a companion, quietly sat down next to him.

Sitting side by side, Huger’s mind drifted back to events from two or three months ago.

“A lot has changed.”

“What?”

“Back then, without a Great Human Warrior, we all used to tremble, Chiik!”

His thick, red fingers pointed at the banner directly ahead.

Moritz finally caught on to Huger’s meaning.

“Ha ha, I thought there was a lost puppy on the castle walls.”

He meant the time when Richard had left to tame the wild beasts.

For several days, Moritz lived atop the castle walls.

Only gazing helplessly at the banner of the Alliance Army.

“Shut up!”

Moritz’s face reddened with memories he wanted to erase.

Huger chuckled.

Even the sight of Moritz’s glaring eyes looked like the stubborn whines of a young orc to him.

Moritz ended up laughing for a long while.

Just as Moritz was debating whether to leave, unable to bear it any longer.

“Comrade.”

Huger, who had just stopped laughing, called to Moritz.

“Why do you keep—”

“Make a choice you won’t regret.”

As if all the previous behavior had been an act, Huger now wore a very serious expression.

“Humans tend to dwell on the past. They live by following past intentions and reacting to past emotions.”

On the other hand, orcs live in the present.

Their brains don’t have the capacity to dwell on every single past event.

Therefore, they discard what must be discarded and learn what needs learning.

Orcs’ unique instincts become sharper through this process.

Looking at Moritz with that keen instinct, Huger said,

“I want you to live each day fully, comrade. Like a true orc.”

Moritz was excessively tied to the past.

Always Bartenberg, Bartenberg…

He didn’t even realize it.

The Bartenberg he had shouted as if it were his whole life was actually a purpose he had set himself to overcome his own inadequacies.

“You are no longer lacking. You have become a respectable man who fits in this grand house, Chiik.”

“Then you have to decide on the next purpose. Are you going to keep following the purpose you set when you were lacking?”

Huger’s rough, coarse hand disappeared from Moritz’s head.

Young Huger had been advised like this by an elder when he was lacking.

And every time, he gained new enlightenment.

‘I hope you also find your way, comrade.’

Thankfully, maybe the prayer had worked this time.

Moritz, who had shut his mouth tight, showed a surprisingly decent expression.

“…Like a true orc? I’m a human.”

“Huh. Then you really might be a relative of mine. You look just like me.”

“Please stop joking.”

***

Huger, bidding farewell to Moritz, resumed his walk.

Step by step.

As he walked pleasantly, a fragrant scent suddenly filled the air.

It was a scent that tickled a corner of his heart and reminded him of a charming woman.

Good. A flower that produces such a scent must be Gloria.

He would definitely bring it to her.

With that thought, a faint smile curved Huger’s lips.

“Chiik, it must be this way…”

Turning toward the source of the scent, Huger saw someone.

A garden blooming thick with yellow flowers.

And sitting on a bench reflected there was an old man he’d seen several times before.

Huger smiled.

Following the wind had led him to meet Moritz, and following the flower scent led him to the Great Human Warrior’s butler.

Moreover, the old man occasionally sighed deeply, clearly carrying some story.

He couldn’t just pass by as if he hadn’t seen it, being a companion who had battled dragons alongside the warrior.

“Hor, sir. Today’s Cupid is me, you know? Good. Someday, I believe one will send Cupid my way too.”

With the meaning of a promise, he raised his pinky finger high to the sky.

He wouldn’t say no with one mouthful.

At least if it was God.

Muttering to himself, Huger approached Gide.

“Chiik! Greetings!”

“You are…”

Gide widened his eyes upon seeing Huger.

If an orc’s face suddenly pushed forward, anyone would be surprised.

“You were the loyal attendant of Richard the Saint, right? I didn’t know until now due to the chaos. I’m glad to meet you.”

Gide stood up straight and bowed politely.

“I am Gide Maier, butler to the Saint.”

“I am Huger. Chiik, your swordsmanship is really top-notch.”

“Yes, indeed.”

“I was there when we battled the dragons.”

“Ah, yes.”

Gide opened his mouth.

Now that he thought about it, a red orc had brushed past his memory’s edge.

“Well, well, have a seat! I’m not big on formalities.”

Huger sat in the chair, patting the seat beside him.

His relaxed demeanor was so natural that Gide, taken aback, also sat down.

“Haha… You seem to really like Gloria. You even came to the Middle Sword Palace.”

“Gloria? I only love Mary.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected confession of unrequited love, Gide’s heart fluttered.

A truly unique personality.

Are orcs all like that?

“Gloria is the name of this yellow flower.”

“Hey! Sorry for being ignorant.”

Huger gestured toward the flower.

“You must not pluck it.”

“Chiik, is that so?”

A long moment passed filled with embarrassed silence.

Unfortunately, it seemed the bouquet for Mary was no longer going to happen.

“Gloria’s flower language is the Song of Glory.”

“Oh! That truly suits a Great Human Warrior.”

“Great Human Warrior…”

Seeing Gide’s puzzled expression, Huger smiled wryly.

“That’s Richard we’re talking about.”

“Eh?”

Complex emotions swirled in Gide’s heart.

“Do you really call him a Great Human Warrior?”

“Chiik, yes. Because he is great.”

“…I’m curious.”

Really. He was truly curious.

What kind of person was Richard?

How had he shown himself to inspire such great trust?

“What are you curious about? I’ll tell you whatever I can.”

Gide was unfamiliar with Richard.

He had proudly shared Richard’s changed appearance once, but now it only felt strange.

He had changed too much.

He was almost a completely different person.

“Does Huger believe in God?”

At the center was the God Richard called upon.

That was all Gide knew.

If asked about the existence of God, of course, he believed. Chiik!

“The question is wrong. I mean, do you worship God?”

“For now, I don’t worship.”

‘For now’… what a vague answer.

“Chiik, but God is a distant being. Others say the same.”

“The Third Knight Division, you mean?”

That’s right.

Since Huger lived in the Third Knight Division’s quarters, he talked a lot with them.

Among the constant topics were God and Richard.

“No matter how much you pray, there’s never a reply, and God has never appeared before my eyes. Honestly, even if a Great Human Warrior said, ‘There’s no God,’ I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Then why do they all follow Richard the Saint?”

It was a question Gide could not understand.

If even the Third Knight Division thought that way, their decision to leave Bartenberg was incomprehensible.

“Because everything that had happened under the banner of God’s power was actually done by the Great Human Warrior, Chiik!”

His answer to the question was simpler than expected.

“…Yes?”

“Did you know? If you ask us to imagine God’s figure, every single one of us pictures a Great Human Warrior. Why, I don’t know. It just is.”

What did Richard show them?

What did that young master show?

Did they call it the power of God? Could he hear more details?

Gide wanted to know.

How different the Richard he saw was from the Richard others saw.

What exactly was the ‘new attitude toward a lord’ that Richard desired?

“There’s nothing more to say.”

Clack.

Huger’s thick red fingers pointed far away.

Beyond the garden full of flowers stood the Capital Palace.

And on the very high rooftop of that building was…

“Young master?”

There stood Richard holding the Banner of Bartenberg.

Why had he climbed up there?

Just as confused Gide was staring blankly.

[In the dark night]

[He shall deliver joyous news through the light]

[At dawn, the Morning Star shall rise]

Beautiful singing echoed from the Capital Palace.

It was just after that when Richard’s banner exploded into a dazzling light.

“Chwiik… isn’t that cool?”

Gide couldn’t answer.

With fierce eyes, he stared at Richard’s light, and with his ears, he listened to the angels’ song.

[Darkness harbors fear]

[The flock holds faith]

[How could they not endure this brief night]

The retainers, each doing their duty, lifted their heads to look at Richard.

Where the light shone, the hymns rang, and magick surged abundantly.

A fresh breeze swept through Bartenberg after a long time.

“Ah, ahh…That’s the one. The ‘Richard’ whom others follow so devotedly.”

A hot wave of passion flickered in Gide’s eyes.